Search the journal

Lib Dem Role in Coalition, MythBuster

The Lib Dems get a very bad reputation for their role in the coalition government, and the public made their feelings clear in 2015, reducing their share of the vote to a tiny 8%. But did the Lib Dem performance in government really warrant such a poor electoral outcome?

The Lib Dems made no major influence in government

Although Nick Clegg and co. were unable to do everything they would’ve liked in government, including abolishing tuition fees, they did manage to implement a sizeable chunk of their manifesto, without getting the accolades. The coalition policy to increase the threshold at which people start to pay income tax was a Lib Dem commitment and a cornerstone of their 2010 manifesto. The policy has been a major help for many low income earners. This, along with introducing the Pupil Premium, a policy aimed at granting extra funding…